Prakash Javadekar feels heat of CBSE leak, students out on street

New Delhi :  A day after the CBSE paper leak surfaced, Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar faced a barrage of questions from the media, which was not satisfied with the comforting words of the Minister.

“I can assure you that the culprits behind the leak won’t be spared. The police is already on the job and just like it nabbed four people in the SSC scam, I am sure it will soon catch the culprits in this case, too,” he said.

“Besides, we have also constituted an internal inquiry to find out who leaked the papers,” the Minister told the reporters before he was charged with another volley of questions.

“I think the honourable minister has given a comprehensive statement…,” intervened Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who was also addressing the press on Cabinet’s decision taken on Wednesday, but he too was cut short for questions on students’ protest across the city.

Even as the the Minister responded to the media queries, students in considerable numbers exhibited their anger in the form of protest at Jantar Mantar and raised slogans against CBSE. One carried a placard reading “CBSE: Complete Bull**** System of Education”.

“This is not right, CBSE should think of the students who didn’t have anything to do with the leak, before conducting a re-examination,” Aman, a Class 12 student of a government school at Gandhi Nagar, told IANS.

“Not just on social media, people were seen selling the question paper outside a school at Kailash Nagar (Gandhi Nagar) for Rs 8,000,” he said.

Another student of Class 12 said paper were leaked for other subjects also.

“Biology and Chemistry papers were also leaked. I got to know of people who were offering question papers for Rs 16,000 if you wanted it a night before and for Rs 3,000 if you wanted it on the morning of the examination day,” the student of KIIT World School in Pitampura said.

“CBSE chief should be sacked. Why is my money, a taxpayer’s money, being spent on the re-examination? Is this the only way to make it just for all? There should be some other way. Let’s not make it easy for the politicians,” a furious mother of two girl students said at the protest.

It is said that question papers for Maths of Class 10 and Economics of Class 12 — examinations for which were conducted on Monday and Wednesday, respectively, this week — were in circulation for days before they came to be acknowledged as “leaks” by the board.

A flagrant act of recklessness on the part of board was also observed when it went ahead with Class 10 Maths examination on Wednesday despite being aware of the leak of Economics paper and even filed an FIR on Tuesday.

An Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed on Wednesday after the CBSE registered two cases with the Crime Branch.

The first case was registered on Tuesday evening about Class 12 Economics question paper leak and the second related to the leak of Class 10 Maths paper was filed on Wednesday.

IANS